Propeller blades of a propeller assembly are extended when in flight in order to provide sufficient thrust to achieve flight in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV or drones). Propeller based unmanned aerial vehicles also may be referenced as rotary wing vehicles, for example, quadcopters. When at rest, propeller blades are often large and unwieldy in the extended configuration and thereby require significant space to adequately store the propeller blades and corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle. Conventional strategies to try to reduce an at rest propeller footprint have involved folding the propellers. However, these strategies require human intervention to fold and unfold the propeller. For example, an individual applies a force to fold propeller blades for storage or applies a force to extend the propeller blades for a flight configuration. In each instance, human intervention increases a likelihood of potential issues such as human error and/or subsequent improper mechanical setup of the propeller assembly.